Albondigas with Sylvia's tomato sauce

Lourdes, who helps look after Connor, worked as a chef here (Costa del Sol) for seven years before deciding she wanted more social hours -- she came over one afternoon and made albondigas for us whilst I furiously scribbled notes.

The sauce she made was based on onions and sherry -- it was a bit bland for me and besides I like the more typical tomato-pastey sauce that you get here. So I created a tomato sauce based on a standard mexican recipe that I tried to make spanish...fusion, right? Anyway, it turned out nice enough so I've included it. This is too rich to eat as a main course -- it is typically served as tapas here -- a small snack to eat whilst drinking.

Liquidise sliced onions, peeled garlic cloves, sherry and parsley in a blender or liquidiser.

Mix liquid with meat, eggs and enough bread crumbs to bind in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roll into meatballs and roll in flour until coated.

Fry meatballs in a shallow frying pan with vegetable oil until golden brown.

Meanwhile, fry chopped shallots, chile pepper, green pepper and paprika in a deep sauce pan until shallots are soft.

Add the tomato sauce and tomatos to the pan, crushing the tomatos in your hand over the pan (if this grosses you out, use chopped tomatos rather than whole). Add the cinammon stick, beef cube, sugar and tomato paste and allow to simmer until the sauce starts to thicken.

Add sliced olives and meatballs into pan and stir carefully. Allow to simmer until the sauce is thick and the meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Serve 3-4 meatballs in sauce per person.